Chair seat



C. W. WHITE Aug. 28, 1934.

CHAIR SEAT Filed April 9. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 INVENTOR 2 fiTTORNEYSj c. w. WHlTE 1,971,471

CHAIR SEAT Filed April 9, 1932 INVENTOR MLMM BY 1 E a ATTORNEYS PatentedAu 28, 1934 CHAIR SEAT Clarence W. White North Bennington, Vt., assignorto 11.. 0. White Company, North Bennington, Vt; a corporation of Vermont1 ApplicationApril 9, 1932, Serial No. 604,150

lplainis. (c1. 155- 14'0 The present invention relates tofurniture andmore particularly to .the seats of chairs; settees and thelike, andespeciallyto such furniture of Y .the folding type.

It is an object or the inventiomto provide a seating surface offlexiblefabric, the seating area of which "is relatively high attheforward and rear portions and relatively lowf therebetween, the forwardseating surface being" curved for- 'wardly anddownwardly' and soconstructed that the desired conformation of the'seat will be maintained over a long period of time despiteconstant use.

m tnjerommg type ofjfurn iture, it has been "-c1 1stom ary to'providearelatively flatffabricseat ing surface.=Wherethe forward edge hasbeenreinforced by some relatively rigid material, such as a woodenstretcher, such stretcher hasrej sulted indiscomfort to the occupant byreason of this hard and uncomfortable wooden portion striking himunder-the knees." j This objection has been avoided, in some instances,by supporting the seating fabric on substantially parallel spaced siderails alone,'with 'no front rail and norear rail, so that in folding;

instead of the frontand rear rails being movable toward each other, theside 'rails ar e movable upwardly toward each other, folding the seatingfabric centrally from front to rear.

Such chairs,;however, have not provided any" comfort comparable tothatprovidedby upholstered furniture 'and,morecver, the forwardportionof the fiat fabric seating surface hassagged more and more withcontinued use in a direction -tending to slide the occupant forwardlyand downwardly out of the chair.

rail on the forward edge of the seat detracts seriously from itsutilityas a comfortable piece of "furniture;

face comparablein comfort toupholstered furniturejand, moreover, onewhichhas a 'yielding surface, as a resultof folded upon itself.

More specifically, the

i i In accordance with'the present'inven tion, there is provided in thisclass of furniture a seatin'g'sur reinforcement at the forward edge ofthe seating which the seat'may be invention" includ es, among otherfeatures, such areinforcernent that prevents theforward edge oftheseating surface v from sagging lower than the lowest portion to therear thereof, accomplishing this in such a manner that comfortableyieldability is maintained without a tendency to cause wrinkling of theforward edge of the seating surface, with the result that, even withcontinued use and allowing; for the normal fabric stretch, the comfortprovided by the seating surface and substantially its originalconformation are both maintained. Other objects and advantages of theinvention, including the elimination of edge wear heretofore occurringat the forward edge of substantially flat fabricseats not provided-witha front rail or similar relatively non-yielding support, as well as thesurface wear caused in 'prior known chairs that are provided with suchrelatively rigid supports, will appear from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,"in which:

1 Figure 1 is afront elevation of a folding chair embodying theinvention; 1 V

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the chair of Figure 1,taken on the line 2-'2 of said figure;

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional. view, taken on the line33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a substantially, central vertical sec tionalview, taken fromleft to right through the chair of Figure 1, with the parts in foldedposition; and

Figure 5 is, a perspective view of' one of the chair seat side rails.

Referring in detail to the accompanying drawings, the invention hereinis illustrated as being embodied in a chair providing a single seat,

I though it will be understood that the invention is equally applicableto a wider piece of furniture, suchas a settee, providing seatingsurface for more than one person. o o o In the embodiment herein shown,a pair of spaced chair side frames are provided, eachincludng a frontleg 10, back leg 12 and upper and lower chair frame side rails 14 and 16respectively, connecting the front leg with the back leg. An arm. 18 issupported at its forward,

end by thefront leg 10 and at its rear by the back leg 12, an arm cornerbrace 20 being provided if desired and a lateral arm brace 22 beingsimilarly 6 provided. 'A front leg corner brace 24 and back, leg cornerbrace 26 may connect the front and back legs respectively with the lowerchair rail 16. Upper back leg corner brace 28 may connect the. back leg12 and upper chair rail 14.

These two chair frames are movable from the operative position of Figurelto the folded position of Figure 4, which latter figure shows the partsin nearly completely folded position. When in the position of Figure l,the back rest fabric 30 is stretched substantially taut, while in thefolded position of Figure 4 the back fabric folds upon itself. Each endof this fabric is securely fastened to the upper portion of one of theback legs 12, as indicated in Figure 3.

Between the two side frames is movably' and foldably located the seat ofthe chair and, in-accordance with the invention, a seat rail 40 isprovided with a raised forward portion 42 and a forwardly and downwardlyconvexly-curved front. end 44. The raised portion 42 of the seat rail.is higher than the intermediate portion 46-tothe rear thereof, and,towardor at the rearrof the. seat rail, a rear raised portion 48 ispreferably provided.

Each seat rail is connected to one of the chair side frames byconnecting means, such asthe crossed connector frame members 50, whoselower ends are pivotally attached, as at 52, to the side frames andwhose upper ends are rigidly fixed. to the seatrails 40. Intermediatetheir ends, each adjacent pair of cross frame members 50is. providedwith a pivot 54 so that-the opposite chair. rails and theirconnectingframesare inter-pivot edby the two pins or otherpivot means54.

Suitable abutment stops 60, herein. shownas.

305:. being in the form of hooks, are provided in connection with thesideframes for the seatrailsAO- to. bear upon when in the positionofFigure 1,

where. the seat is in operative. or unfolded position. I a v Aseat-forming fabric portion 62-has its opposite sides. secured to theseat rails. 40 and is stretched between. and on. said seat railssufiiciently to'c'auseit' to conform tothe upper seat rail surface wherethe seating fabric- 62 contactstherewith. Between the lower portions -46of the rails the seat-forming fabric52vwill, particularly after.continued use, be somewhatllower in the center, as indicated at 68 inFigure 3.

The forward portion '70 of the seating fabric:62 contactswiththeportions-44oftne seat rails, being similarly curved forwardly.and downwardly, and betweenthefront ends of the seat rails the front.portion. '70 of the seating fabric. is

stretched substantially taut.

While the intermediate portion of the seatmay be permittedrto stretchwithinlimits, it is desirable that the forward raised. portion '72 oftheseat be prevented fromstretching or'sagging to such an extentthat thecomfort provided by this foldable seat is materially lessened.Accordingly, this portion of the. seat. is. reinforcedin-sucha. mannerthat undesirable sagging isprevented,

while at the same time nothingrigid, such as.

prior suggested wooden rails,.is provided .which.

might detract from the comfort of the occupant;

the seatingsurface, as .indicatedat 76. in Figures... 2; andB;

Iii-seats of .thepresent-type, it is essential that. the foldability ofthe seat be maintained, sothatits flexibility must not be destroyed;while at the same time undue sagging must. be prevented. Too muchrigidity. atthefrontof the seat 'WQH i also prevent the lower forwardend, which extends downwardly, from being yieldable toward the rear ofthe seat, which yieldability is provided by the present invention, thusgreatly increasing the comfort of the occupant of the chair.

All of the aforementioned desirable results are secured and maintained,as herein shown, by securing: the folded-under or reinforcing fabricportion '76 in curved contact with the underside of-the-seating surfaceby means of spaced-apart, substantially parallel rows of stitches, asindi cated in dot and dash lines in Figures 1 and 2. This-leaves theintermediate portion of the seat to thev rear of the front raisedportion with more flexibility-than thefr-ont part of the seat, and,as'indicatedin. Figure 3, the folded-under portion76 is preferably insecure contact with the forwardly. andifdownwardly curved front end 44of the seatrail 40.

The construction described provides, in a folding. chair of the fabric.seatingsurface. type, a

seating. surface comparable. in. comfort withthe. seating, surfacesprovided. by upholstered seat frames with both front and rear railsas-well as side. rails,.and.with the construction described,

the comfortable conformation ofthe seating sur face is maintaineddespite constant use. e

What is claimed v is:

1. A-.fo1ding chair including side frames mov-:

able toward. and away from each other,.a. pair of substantially parallelseat rails movable toward and away, from eachother between said sideframes, means pivotally attaching each of said seat railstooneofsaid-side frames-and to=each other, a-seat-forming' fabric portionhaving its frontend curvedforwardly anddownwardly. and

being flexible andcentrally foldable between its oppositesides,-. and .gasimilarly curved flexible and away fromeach other between saidsideframes and having their forward endscurved forwardly and downwardly,means pivotally-attaching each-of said seat rails'to one of said sideframes-and toeach other, a seat-forming fabric portion'having oppositesides secured to said seat rails and having its front end curvedforwardly and downwardly, said seat-forming fabric portionbeingr-centrallyrfoldable by movement of said .seat rails toward eachother, and-a 'similarly curvedand foldable reinforcing fabric portionsewed beneath. and -in:contact with the forwardlyand.downwardlycurvedfrontend "of said seatforming fabriciportionbyspaced rows of stitches through said curvedfront end, both fabricportions being; rearwardly yieldable between-said seat rails; v

' 3.-A'foldmg chair; including side frames movable toward and away fromeach other, apairof substantially parallel seat rails, movable towardand-away from each other, between said sideframes and-each having-araised portion near its forward end, the forward ends of said seat railscurving downwardly'from'their raised portions, means pivotallyattachingeach-of said seat rails to one of said side frames and toeach'other, a-

seat-forming-fabric portion havingopposite sides securedto saidseatrails and havinga raisedportionnear. its. front. end and its front endcurved forwardly and downwardly from said raised portion over theforward ends of said seat rails, said seat-forming fabric portion beingcentrally foldable by movement of said seat rails toward each other, aportion of said seat-forming fabric being, at the forward end of theseat, folded under itself, extending upwardly and rearwardly and sewedin curved contact with the curved front end of the seat-forming portionby substantially parallel rows of stitches, both the folded underportion and the seat-forming portion, at the forward end of the seat,being rearwardly yieldable between said seat rails.

4. A folding chair including side frames movable toward and away fromeach other, a pair of substantially parallel seat rails, movable towardand away from each other, between said side frames and each having araised portion near its forward end, the forward ends of said seat railscurving downwardly from their raised portions, means pivotally attachingsaid seat rails to said side frames and to each other, a seat-formingfabric portion secured at opposite sides to said seat rails and having araised portion near its front end and its front end curved forwardly anddownwardly from its raised portion over the forward ends of said rails,said seat-forming fabric portion being centrally foldable by movement ofsaid seat rails toward each other, a portion of said seat-forming fabricbeing, at the forward end of the seat, folded under itself and curvingupwardly and rearwardly and being secured in curved contact to theforward ends of said seat rails and being sewed in curved contact withthe curved front end of the seat-forming portion by substantiallyparallel rows of stitches extending laterally across and through bothcurved portions of said fabric, both of said portions, at the forwardend of the seat, being rearwardly yieldable between said seat rails.

CLARENCE W. WHITE.

